TWI435161B - Portable electronic device with 3d image capture capability and image difference control method thereof - Google Patents

Description

Portable electronic device with stereo image capturing function and image difference control method thereof

The present invention relates to a portable electronic device having a stereoscopic image capturing function, and particularly relates to image difference control for stereoscopic image capturing.

For stereo image capture, two sets of image capture modules are usually required: a first image capture module simulates a person's left eye; and a second image capture module simulates a person's right eye.

Regarding the conventional technology, the first and second image capturing modules described above are assembled in a portable electronic device having a stereoscopic image capturing function - which are placed separately at a fixed distance. If the object to be photographed is too close to the device, the difference between a first image captured by the first image capturing module and a second image captured by the second image capturing module may be too significant, resulting in the inability to form a stereoscopic image. .

The invention discloses a portable electronic device with a stereoscopic image capturing function and an image difference control method thereof.

A portable electronic device implemented in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes a first image capturing module, a second image capturing module, a subject distance estimator, and an image difference control mechanism. The first image capturing module and the second image capturing module are configured to respectively capture a first image and a second image to form a stereo image. Before the image is taken, the subject distance estimator estimates a distance of the subject, shows how far a subject is to be photographed, and the image difference control mechanism adjusts the first and second image shots according to the distance of the subject. a distance between the modules, wherein the distance is adjusted by moving at least one of the first and second image capturing modules. In this way, the image difference between the first and second images is properly adjusted to perfectly form a stereoscopic image.

In one embodiment, the image difference control mechanism includes a mechanical structure, an electric motor, and an electric motor controller. The mechanical structure allows at least one of the first and second image capturing modules to slide thereon. The electric motor is coupled to the mechanical structure to drive sliding of at least one of the first and second image capturing modules. The electric motor controller controls the electric motor based on the subject distance.

The image difference control mechanism may further include a storage unit that stores a lookup table that is queried by the electric motor controller according to the distance of the object. Based on the look-up table, the shorter the subject distance corresponds to the more positive value to drive the electric motor to shorten the distance between the first and the second image capturing module.

In another embodiment, an image difference control method of a portable electronic device having a stereoscopic image capturing function includes the following steps. According to the method, a subject distance estimator is supplied to estimate a subject distance. In addition, an image difference control mechanism is provided to adjust a distance between a first image capturing module and a second image capturing module of the portable electronic device based on the distance of the object, wherein the moving the first The adjustment of the distance is implemented by at least one of the second image capturing module. After estimating the distance of the subject and adjusting the distance between the first image capturing module and the second image capturing module, the first image capturing module and the second image capturing module are respectively actuated to respectively capture a first image and A second image forms a stereo image.

The invention is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The following description sets forth various embodiments of the invention. The following description sets forth the basic concepts of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention. The scope of the actual invention shall be defined in accordance with the scope of the patent application.

FIG. 1 illustrates a portable electronic device 100 having a stereoscopic image capture function implemented in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

The portable electronic device 100 includes a first image capturing module 102, a second image capturing module 104, a subject distance estimator 106, and an image difference control mechanism 108.

The first and second image capturing modules 102 and 104 are configured to respectively capture a first image and a second image to form a stereo image. Before the image capturing, the subject distance estimator 106 estimates a subject distance SD indicating how far a subject is to be photographed; in addition, the image difference control mechanism 108 adjusts the first based on the subject distance SD. A distance d from the second image capturing modules 102 and 104. The image difference control mechanism 108 can move at least one of the first and second image capturing modules 102 and 104 to adjust the distance d. In this way, the image difference between the first image and the second image is appropriately controlled to perfectly form a stereoscopic image.

FIG. 2 illustrates a technique for adjusting the distance between the first and the second image capturing modules 102 and 104, wherein a subject to be photographed is moved to a closer distance SD2 by a longer distance SD1. In this embodiment, the portable electronic device 100 further includes an image display 110 for instantly displaying the captured stereoscopic image for viewing by the user. As shown, the distance adjustment technique between the first and second image capturing modules 102 and 104 creates a comfortable stereoscopic visual experience for the user. When the subject to be photographed is located at a long distance SD1, the first and the second image capturing module (indicated by a solid line) are separated by a long distance d1. When the subject to be photographed is located at a relatively short distance SD2, the first and the second image capturing module (indicated by a broken line) are separated by a short distance d2. Referring back to FIG. 1 , the image difference control unit 108 can increase the distance d between the first and second image capturing modules 102 and 104 when the subject distance SD increases, and vice versa. When the distance SD is reduced, the distance d between the first and second image capturing modules 102 and 104 can be shortened.

In one embodiment, the subject distance estimator 106 is a distance sensor, such as an infrared sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, etc., or, in another embodiment, the subject distance sensor The 106 can be implemented by an autofocus module that estimates the subject distance SD when determining the appropriate focal length between the lens and the image sensor array.

In addition, the image difference control mechanism 108 can include a mechanical structure 122, an electric motor 124, an electric motor controller 126, and a storage unit 128. At least one of the first and second image capturing modules 102 and 104 is moved by the mover -102, or 104, or both - on the mechanical structure 122. The electric motor 124 is coupled to the mechanical structure 122 to drive the sliding of at least one of the first and second image capturing modules 102 and 104 by the mover (102, 104, or both). The electric motor controller 126 controls the electric motor 124 based on the subject distance SD. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the storage unit 128 stores a lookup table LUT that is queried by the electric motor controller 126 in accordance with the subject distance SD. Regarding the lookup table LUT, the shorter the subject distance corresponds to a value that is positive, the forward value will drive the electric motor 124 to shorten between the first and the second image capturing modules 102 and 104. Distance d. In another embodiment, the electric motor controller 126 replaces the look-up table LUT with an operation to obtain a value required to control the electric motor 124.

In one embodiment, the mechanical structure 122 is a slide rail, and the electric motor 124 can be a stepping motor, an ultrasonic motor, or the like.

The disclosed portable electronic device can be a smart phone. Figure 3 illustrates a smart phone 300 with the disclosed stereoscopic image capture technique. In this embodiment, the first and second image capturing modules 302 and 304 each have a lens and image sensor array. As the image capture module moves, its lens moves with the image sensor array.

In another embodiment, the disclosed portable electronic device can be a monocular camera. Figure 4 illustrates a monocular camera 400 with the disclosed stereoscopic image capture technique. In this embodiment, the first and second image capturing modules 402 and 404 are two image sensor arrays that respectively sense images to simulate a person's left and right eyes. While the shutter 408 and the focal length between the first and second image capturing modules 402 and 404 are automatically obtained by lightly pressing the shutter (as indicated by 406), a subject distance can be obtained to adjust the first and the first The distance between the two image capturing modules 402 and 404 is such that the distance of the object is the same. In another embodiment, the focal length is manually adjusted (eg, indicated by 410, the focal length of the rotating lens 408 is ring controlled), and the subject distance is also adapted by the manual focus procedure, and the first is adjusted. And the distance between the second image capturing modules 402 and 404 to match the size of the subject distance.

FIG. 5 illustrates a method of controlling image difference of a portable electronic device having a stereoscopic image capturing function in a flowchart. The portable electronic device can be as shown in FIG. According to step S502, the subject distance estimator 106 estimates the subject distance SD. According to step S504, the image difference control unit 108 adjusts the distance d between the first image capturing module 102 and the second image capturing module 104 according to the subject distance SD, wherein the first and second images are moved. At least one of the imaging modules 102 and 104 implements its distance adjustment. After the estimation of the subject distance SD is completed (step S502) and the adjustment of the distance d between the first and the second image capturing modules 102 and 104 is completed (step S504), step S506 is performed. According to step S506, the first and the second image capturing modules 102 and 104 are activated to respectively capture a first image and a second image to form a stereo image. In this way, the image difference between the first image and the second image is properly controlled to form a stereoscopic image.

While the present invention has been described in its preferred embodiments, the present invention is not intended to limit the invention, and the present invention may be modified and modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of protection is subject to the definition of the scope of the patent application.

100. . . Portable electronic device

102, 104. . . First and second image capturing modules

106. . . Shot distance estimator

108. . . Image difference control mechanism

122. . . Mechanical structure

124. . . electric motor

126. . . Electric motor controller

128. . . Storage unit

300. . . Smart phone

302, 304. . . First and the second image capturing module

400. . . Monocular camera

402, 404. . . First and second image capturing modules

406. . . Light pressure shutter operation

408. . . Lens

410. . . Focal distance control operation

d, d1, d2. . . Distance between the first and second image capturing modules 102 and 104

LUT. . . Check form

SD, SD1, SD2. . . Shooting distance

as well as

S502-S506‧‧‧Related steps of image difference control method

1 is a portable electronic device 100 having a stereoscopic image capturing function according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a method for adjusting the distance between the first and second image capturing modules 102 and 104 when a subject to be photographed moves from a longer distance SD1 to a closer distance SD2;

Figure 3 illustrates a smart phone 300 with the disclosed stereoscopic image capture technology;

Figure 4 illustrates a monocular camera 400 having the disclosed stereoscopic image capture technique;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an image difference control method of a portable electronic device having a stereoscopic image capturing function.

100. . . Portable electronic device

102, 104. . . First and second image capturing modules

106. . . Shot distance estimator

108. . . Image difference control mechanism

122. . . Mechanical structure

124. . . electric motor

126. . . Electric motor controller

128. . . Storage unit

d. . . Distance between the first and second image capturing modules 102 and 104

LUT. . . Check form

SD. . . Shooting distance

Claims (3)

A portable electronic device having a stereoscopic image capturing function includes: a first image capturing module and a second image capturing module; a subject distance estimator estimating a subject distance according to a focal length; and a The image difference control mechanism adjusts a distance between the first image capturing module and the second image capturing module based on the distance of the object, wherein the distance is implemented by moving at least one of the first image capturing device and the second image capturing module The image difference control mechanism includes a mechanical structure and an electric motor and an electric motor controller, wherein the mechanical structure causes at least one of the first and second image capturing modules to be moved by Up sliding, the electric motor is coupled to the mechanical structure to drive sliding of at least one of the first and second image capturing modules, and the electric motor controller controls the electric motor based on the object distance a motor; the image difference control mechanism further includes a storage unit for storing a look-up table by the electric motor controller to query based on the distance of the object, and the checking The table causes the shorter subject distance to correspond to a relatively positive value to drive the electric motor to shorten the distance between the first and the second image capturing module; and adjust the first and the first in the image difference control mechanism After the distance between the two image capturing modules, the first image capturing module and the second image capturing module respectively capture a first image and a second image to form a stereo image. The portable electronic device of claim 1, further comprising an image display for displaying the stereoscopic image. An image difference control method is applied to a portable electronic device having a stereoscopic image capturing function and includes: providing a subject distance estimator for estimating a subject distance according to a focal length; and providing an image difference control mechanism, The image difference control mechanism adjusts a distance between the first image capturing module and the second image capturing module based on the distance of the object, and adjusts at least one of the first image and the second image capturing module The first image and the second image capturing module respectively capture a first image and a second image to form a stereo image, wherein the image difference control mechanism comprises: a mechanical structure For the first and the second image capturing module, at least one of the moved persons is slid thereon; an electric motor coupled to the mechanical structure to drive the first and second image capturing modules At least one of the sliders of the moved; an electric motor controller that controls the electric motor based on the distance of the subject; and a storage unit that stores a look-up table Querying by the electric motor controller based on the distance of the subject, and the look-up table causes a shorter subject distance to correspond to a relatively positive value, the more positive value driving the electric motor to shorten the first and the The distance between the second image capturing modules.